FBI Director Kash Patel warned Friday that Russian hackers have targeted US officials and other high-value individuals through the encrypted messaging app Signal, with thousands of accounts already compromised. In a post on“The operation targets individuals with high intelligence value, including current and former U.S. government officials, military personnel, political figures, and journalists,” the FBI director said. “Globally, this effort has resulted in unauthorized access to thousands of individual accounts.”Patel warned that after gaining access, Russian actors were able to view messages and contact lists, impersonate the victim, send messages, and conduct phishing attacks from the victim’s account.As the New York Post reports, a public service announcement detailing the threat said that “the actors specifically targeted Signal accounts, but may implement similar methods against other commercial messaging apps.”Russian hackers infiltrated people’s accounts by “sending messages impersonating automated (commercial messaging app) support accounts” that “trick the target into taking an action such as clicking a link or providing a verification code or account PIN.”The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) warned in the PSA that “complete account takeover” was possible if users took the requested actions.CBS reported last year that the National Security Agency (NSA) had previously warned the War Department about the risks of using Signal, specifically citing the threat of Russian hacking groups actively attacking the app.Several top Trump administration officials, including Vice President J.D. Vance and War Secretary Pete Hegseth, used the app to discuss military strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen in a group chat last year that was accidentally shared with a reporter.
